Happy May 1st! And a happy day it is indeed, for me anyway, because in France, it’s a national holiday! On a Tuesday, too, which is a huge novelty for someone who has grown up in England, where mid-week bank holidays are simply not a thing - unless it’s Christmas, Boxing Day, or New Year’s... Continue Reading →
Hostess With The Mostest – Or Trying Anyway (Part 2/2)
So, to pick up where I left off (Part 1 here) with regards to the previous weekend, Sunday last dawned bright and sunny, another beautifully-blue-skied-but-bitterly-cold sort of day. Our little party headed out with the intention of picking up breakfast as we went, but alas, the queue for ‘my’ boulangerie was the longest I’d seen... Continue Reading →
Hostess With The Mostest – Or Trying, Anyway (Part 1/2)
This weekend, I had friends come to stay for the first time since moving to my new place and it was wonderful. The couple in question are fellow foodies (the best kind of friends) and accordingly, much of the weekend was spent savouring Paris/France’s many culinary delights. This meant kicking the weekend off with a... Continue Reading →
“Saturday Night Roast” Doesn’t Have The Same Ring To It (or My First Soirée)
Following my previous post about the Saturday just gone, I’m now going to jump back to the previous Saturday. You’ll have to forgive the appalling lack of chronology. So, on Saturday evening a week and a half ago, I hosted my first soirée. Admittedly, with a party of three (including myself and my “co-host”) it... Continue Reading →
What Woman Hath The Power To Resist Warm Bread?
Well, the weekend did not disappoint weather-wise, continuing on exactly as Friday had given Paris reason to hope it might. Saturday dawned optimistically bright and developed into the most gloriously sunny afternoon. It was cold, but fresh, with the tangible promise of spring in the scent of the air and the quality of the light,... Continue Reading →
Mardi Gras!
Happy Mardi Gras! And it’s certainly gotten off to a happy start – in honour of the date, my colleagues and I gathered this morning to enjoy a communal breakfast of light, sweet chouquettes and fresh brioche, one dotted with raisins, the other with chocolate chips, and both still deliciously warm from the boulangerie. Mardi... Continue Reading →
The Weather Outside Is Frightful
My delight with yesterday’s snow ("Let It Snow") was short-lived: the walk to work either side of the metro this morning was enough to see to that. It has been snowing all day without reprieve, but none of those lovely big fluffy flakes today; instead it’s been hours on end of that fine stuff that... Continue Reading →
Let It Snow
Il neige!! Or at least, it did this morning: big, fluffy clumps of white flurrying past the window for a whole three hours or so. It was a beautiful sight from my sixth-floor apartment. I love the view from my windows anyway - the blue-grey rooftops and terracotta chimney pots are about as typically ‘Paris’... Continue Reading →
Not Another Paris Post (Genuinely)
I met up with my French friend earlier this week - incidentally, the sole Paris inhabitant I knew before I arrived. He’s not actually from Paris, rather he hails from Rennes in Brittany; an anchor tattooed onto his ankle represents his Breton roots. I’ve teased him more than once for being a walking cliché when... Continue Reading →
Friday Night – À La Française
Happy Friday tout le monde! I don’t know about you, but this week has flown by for me. Not that I’m any less pleased about it being (practically) the weekend! And I’m going to celebrate by telling you about this absolutely FABULOUS place I discovered last Friday. I say ‘discovered’… It was discovery by way... Continue Reading →